Guardian Partners Inc. Takes Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 47,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,369,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank lowered shares of American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.92.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.0 %

AEP opened at $105.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $101.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.07. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.24. American Electric Power had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 11.27%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.43%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.